| Cabinet Name: | First Jawaharlal Nehru ministry |
| Cabinet Number: | 1st |
| Cabinet Type: | ministry |
| Jurisdiction: | the Dominion of India and later the Republic of India |
| Flag: | Flag of India.svg |
| Flag Border: | true |
| Deputy Government Head: | Vallabhbhai Patel (until 15 December 1950) |
| Governor General Title: | Governor-General |
| Government Head Title: | Prime minister |
| Government Head: | Jawaharlal Nehru |
| Governor Title: | President |
| Governor: | Rajendra Prasad (1950–52) |
| Political Party: | Indian National Congress |
| Legislature Status: | Majority |
| Opposition Party: | None |
| Opposition Leader: | None |
| Election: | 1945 Indian general election |
| Last Election: | 1951 Indian general election |
| Previous: | Interim |
| Successor: | Second Nehru ministry |
After power transformation, on 15 August 1947, Jawaharlal Nehru assumed office as the first Prime Minister of India and chose fifteen ministers to form the First Nehru ministry.
The Constituent Assembly was set up while India was still under British rule, following negotiations between Indian leaders and members of the 1946 Cabinet Mission to India from the United Kingdom. The provincial assembly elections had been conducted early in 1946. The Constituent Assembly members were elected to it indirectly by the members of these newly elected provincial assemblies, and initially included representatives for those provinces which came to form part of Pakistan, some of which are now within Bangladesh. The Constituent Assembly had 299 representatives, including nine women.
The Interim Government of India was formed on 2 September 1946 from the newly elected Constituent Assembly. The Indian National Congress held a large majority in the Assembly, with 69 percent of all of the seats, while the Muslim League held almost all of the seats reserved in the Assembly for Muslims. There were also some members from smaller parties, such as the Scheduled Caste Federation, the Communist Party of India, and the Unionist Party. In June 1947, the delegations from the provinces of Sindh, East Bengal, Baluchistan, West Punjab, and the North West Frontier Province withdrew, to form the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan, meeting in Karachi. On 15 August 1947, the Dominion of India and Dominion of Pakistan became independent nations, and the members of the Constituent Assembly who had not withdrawn to Karachi became India's Parliament. Only 28 members of the Muslim League finally joined the Indian Assembly. Later, 93 members were nominated from the princely states. The Congress thus secured a majority of 82%.
Jawaharlal Nehru took charge as the first Prime Minister of India on 15 August 1947, and chose 15 other members for his cabinet. Vallabhbhai Patel served as the first Deputy Prime Minister until his death on 15 December 1950. Lord Mountbatten, and later C. Rajagopalachari, served as Governor-General until 26 January 1950, when Rajendra Prasad was elected as the first President of India.[1] [2]
There were members from Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, Sikh and Parsi communities represented in India's first ministry. There were two members from the Dalit community represented as well.[3] [4] Rajkumari Amrit Kaur was the only female Cabinet minister. The following is a list of the ministers in the first Cabinet.[1]
|}
| S.no | Name | Period | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Deputy Minister of Works,Mines and Power | Surendranath Buragohain | 14 August 1950 | 26 December 1950 | 134 days | |
| Deputy Miinister of Works,Production and Supply | 26 December 1950 | 13 May 1952 | 1 year 139 days | |||
| 2. | R. R. Diwakar | 7 October 1948 | 26 January 1950 | 1 year 111 days | ||
| 3. | Mahavir Tyagi | 16 February 1951 | 13 May 1952 | |||
| 4. | Minister of State for Railways | K. Santhanam | 1 October 1948 | 10 March 1952 | 3 years, 241 days | |
| Minister of Road Transport and Highways | 1 October 1948 | 17 April 1952 | 3 years 199 days | |||
| 5. | Deputy Minister of Railways | B. V. Keskar | 10 March 1952 | 13 May 1952 | 64 days | |
| 7 December 1948 | 26 January 1950 | 1 year, 50 days | ||||
| Deputy Minister of External Affairs | 31 January 1950 | 13 May 1952 | 2 years, 103 days | |||
| 6. | Deputy Minister of Defence | Kumar Shree Himmatsinhji Jadeja | 14 August 1950 | 29 February 1952 | 1 year, 199 days | |
| 7. | Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture | Mosalikanti Thirumala Rao | 21 August 1950 | 13 May 1952 | 1 year, 266 days | |
| 8. | Khurshed Lal | 1 October 1948 | 29 January 1951 | 2 years, 120 days | ||
| 9. | Raj Bahadur | 29 January 1951 | 13 May 1952 | 1 year, 105 days | ||
| 10. | Deputy Minister of Commerce and Industry | Dattatraya Parashuram Karmarkar | August | 13 May | ||
| 11. | Deputy Minister of Parliamentary Affairs | Satya Narayan Sinha | 1 October 1948 | 26 February 1949 | 148 days | |
| 12. | Rustom Khurshedji Sidhwa | 11 October 1951 | 13 May 1952 | 215 days | ||
